While
there is still a raging debate out there on whether women can really have it
all, it is important to acknowledge that women do have to often make career and
finance related sacrifices when they start a family. Often it can happen, that
post starting a family, women’s earnings and careers remain in the slow lane
till the kids are grown up and they are able to get back to work in full swing.
Women either take leave from work, move to job profiles that are less demanding
on time and energy or take up part-time work.
Not
only does this phenomenon have an impact on the family’s finances, it can also
make women psychologically vulnerable. Women who have so far been financially
independent, now have to deal with a feeling of some dependence, which can be a
challenge even with the most supportive husband and family. Added to this is
the fact that in the current times, marriages are not as stable as has historically
been the case in the Indian context. In the event of a divorce or even an
unfortunate event like the better half’s mortality, the woman can have a huge
responsibility to cope with.
This
begs the question: How can women plan and
secure their finances best to ensure some security, freedom from financial
stress and even better self-worth? The three points outlined below could
help you navigate through the financial hurdle race on the way to creating a
secure family life:
1. Plan
for a family early: If you as a married
couple wish to start a family, it would help to financially prepare in advance
for the scenario. If you are looking to start a family two years from now,
start assessing today what you would like your financial standing to be when
you do have a family. This is important, since planning a family means
increased expenses. Since one part of the couple, usually the woman, takes a
step back on the career front when starting a family for both biological and
societal reasons; it means that the woman’s incomes will be impacted by the
decision. When assessing your financials at the time of your starting a family,
take into account the fact that the loss on income will potentially be higher,
since salaries increase overtime. This may or may not be offset by an
equivalent increase in the partner’s incomes. Also, take into account the fact
that prices will rise overtime, which will inflate the overall budget, with or
without an addition to the family. Planning now will ensure that you are able
to set aside a proportion of your income as return generating investments,
which can at least partially provide for expenses at a later date.
2. Ensure a personal
financial safety net: In order to ensure
financial security, when you start a family, make sure to have investments in
your name as a woman. While investments in the couple’s name and in the
husband’s name are security enough in regular scenarios, in the event of a
situation like a divorce, it can create an extremely stressful situation. It
will do no harm to therefore have personal investments. Make a commitment to
investing regularly from your monthly incomes. During the initial years of work, you are usually capable of
taking on riskier investments in financial instruments like equities. However,
given the prolonged challenged economic scenario, equities have been quite
unpredictable in the recent years. Since you would like assured principal as
well as returns to investments, do explore financial products, like debt,
combination of debt and equity or principal protected funds to ensure that your
savings are secure and growing. Some amount of investment in liquid assets will
also help, since they can double up as an emergency fund. Also, make sure to
have life and health insurance coverage for both you and your spouse. While a
number of companies provide insurance coverage for their employees, there are
others that do not. Also, it is possible that even if you are covered, the coverage
is adequate for your financial goals. Adequate medical insurance is
particularly worth mentioning here, since the last thing you would want is a
drain on hard earned money in the event of an expensive medical requirement.
3. Become
active in financial matters: Often, women tend to
leave investment related financial decisions in the hands of their better
halves, while concentrating more on the expenses. This is largely a historical
tendency, since women are traditional homemakers while men used to go out to
earn. Even as women have moved out of their homes into formal workplaces, the
responsibility for investments is still considered to be that of the
household’s male member. In the present times, there are easy and accessible
tools for everyone to become financially aware and educated. These can be found
in the form of books, multi-media, trainings and there are plenty of free
resources on the internet itself. The more aware women become of financial
matters beyond earning and expenses, the more likely it is for them to take
charge of their financial destinies. While it is desirable that women become
financially aware as soon as start earning, if not earlier, some time off when
they start a family can be a good time to come up the curve on finances.
Knowledge of the best financial investments for you personally and as a family
can help provide greater security to you, take off some responsibility for the
same from your husband’s shoulders and also give you more confidence in
managing and even growing your finances.
These
are just a few options that you have as a woman looking to create a secure
family have when planning for the future. While each individual and family will
have different needs based on their starting finances, education levels and
career trajectory, a bit of financial planning can still go a long way to
ensure that you and your family are financially secure!
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